Kageboushi
by Patchcat
Summary: Of all the emotions Kohaku expected to feel during his first slaying expedition, helpless was definitely not one of them. One pivotal moment will change his life forever and nothing will ever be the same again.


**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and anyone she may have legally sold the rights to. It just amuses to me to mess with them.

**A/N: **Originally posted on iyfic-contest over at LiveJournal, this was my entry into their "shade" theme. It took third for the theme. I suppose it _could_ be considered a companion piece to _Brother's Love_, but only if you squint and tilt your head just right. :P

**Kageboushi**

The morning his father allowed him to go fight for the first time, Kohaku was overjoyed and a little apprehensive. He had trained all of his short life for this day; and, although he knew he would always stand in his sister's shadow, he couldn't be prouder that he was finally counted as a man. While he waited for the time of departure, he reflected on his training.

How well he remembered the first time he had swung his sickle…and completely missed the post he was aiming for. His sister often teased that she had never before seen that particular shade of red. Gradually, his aim improved and with it his confidence until he was almost as proficient with his chosen weapon as Sango was with her Hiriakotsu. He trained diligently with his father; and finally, he was allowed to join in his first hunt.

The ride to the lord's mansion had been uneventful, and Kohaku thought he had done well in his attempt to hide his trepidation. As his sister drew even with him, he found that he wasn't as good an actor as he thought.

"I was nervous on my first real hunt, too, Kohaku," she told him with a knowing look.

"I'm not nervous," he replied, the minute tremor in his voice belying his words.

Sango just chuckled warmly. "Don't worry, little brother. We're all here with you. There's nothing to worry about." She reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately before setting her heels to her mount. His eyes followed them as they drew even with his father, and he saw that they were almost to the gates of the mansion they were summoned to. It was time to set aside his fears and his nerves. They had a demon to hunt.

As the group of slayers stood before the lord of the castle, Kohaku felt a brief chill travel up his spine. Trying his best to appear attentive to the lord, he glanced around him, hoping to find whatever was making him uneasy. Next to him, Sango leaned in a little and whispered, "Kohaku? What's wrong?"

He just shook his head and turned his attention back to the lord. Seconds later he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck, as though an insect had stung him. He has no time to bat at the offending bug before the earth beneath his feet started to rumble and buck and all around him the guard from the mansion and the other slayers turned to face the largest spider he had ever seen. The sight of such a monster held him immobile, and it was all he could do to watch as his father and men he had know all of his life fought the beast.

It was all over very quickly. Three of the men pinned it down with half-moon pikes as two others used long, sharpened spears to cut at its legs. Seeing it down, helpless, brought Kohaku out of his daze; and he remembered why he was there. As he raised his sickle to join in the fray, he heard his sister's shout from behind him and watched as her weapon cut a long, bloody swath through the creature's hide. It made no other attempt to get up and fight, and Kohaku moved in to help deliver the killing blow.

As he raised his sickle, he felt a strange thickness enter his mind and found that his body no longer obeyed his commands. As if he had somehow become detached from his surroundings, he watched in horror as his weapon came down, not on the neck of the incapacitated spider, but sliced across his father's throat. It was as though a wall had sprung up, and all that made him "Kohaku" was imprisoned as his body moved without his control.

His soul cried out in pain and anguish as his comrades fell, the razor's edge of his weapon sliding cleanly through flesh. Finally, all that was left standing were himself and his sister. Sango stared at him in horror as tears streamed down her face. "Kohaku, what have you done?"

The part of him that was still Kohaku, still her brother, railed and screamed at the walls of his prison, 'It's not me! Help me, sister! Help me!'

It seemed almost as if she heard his silent cry. He watched as her eyes fell on something behind him and tracked to the lord sitting calmly upon his cushioned steps. "You!" she cried, her voice cracking with pain and rage. "You did this!" And she charged.

Kohaku found his arm coming up and striking out at her as she ran past him, the point of his sickle burying itself deep in her back. He cried out from behind his walls in grief and anger as his sister fell, her weapon clattering to the ground beside her. The sounds of the lord's laughter filled him, and he knew who had been pulling his strings. For a moment his mind cleared.

Driven by a grief so strong it almost overwhelmed him, Kohaku started across the court, intent on ending the malicious laughter that echoed in his head. Just as he reached the dais, however, that hated veil settled once more; and his body, his mind, was not his own. He turned to meet his sister's sword, and they engaged in a deadly dance of flying steel. It ended with the "twang" and "whoosh" of arrows and intense pain.

As his vision darkened, his spirit fled to a tiny corner of his mind and barricaded the door. That part of him that was "Kohaku" knew that should he ever emerge from that place, he would be nothing more than a shadow, a mere silhouette of who he once was meant to be.

* * *

Kageboushi -- shadow figure, silhouette 


End file.
